Help Save Our Home: An MS story

Hello! My name is Robert and this gofundme campaign is being started because my wife and I are in need of help.

Jennifer has been diagnosed with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (MS). She was originally diagnosed with MS in September of 2006 at the age 45. MS is a disease of the brain and spinal cord, affecting voluntary muscle movements. It is a wide-ranging disease which affects different people in different ways.

As we were to find out after my wife’s diagnosis, she had been undiagnosed for many years due to the randomness of the episodes, and was already moving into the Secondary Progressive stage. In Secondary Progressive MS, we learned, the deterioration of the body is more steady, eventually leading to wheelchair confinement or confinement to bed.

Our Emphasis Became Quality of Life

After trying various medications––including a failed pump implant designed to insert medicine directly to her spinal cord––we had to stop my wife’s MS treatments to simply focus, as best we could, on maintaining her quality of life.

Jennifer continued to lose her ability to walk, and by 2008 required a scooter to get around at work and a chairlift at home. She lost the ability to drive herself to work, and though she continued her occupation as a church musician/teacher, the overwhelming fatigue she experienced made it almost impossible to do anything more.

But by the end of 2009 my wife had become totally disabled and eventually became mostly confined to bed. Neither of us have any family remaining, and as she was unable to use any kind of walking aids and had no mobility, I had to quit my two careers as a pastor and university professor to care for her 24/7.

For the last 10 years, as we’ve struggled, I’m reminded almost daily of the things we all take for granted until they are taken away from us. Especially, I am in awe of my wife’s resilience and her ability to maintain her gentle spirit.

An Unexpected Financial Blow

While we have been able to just manage to get along on disability insurance and with help from dear friends, we’ve encountered a new problem:  due to the repayment terms of an equity line of credit taken on our house before we knew of my wife’s health condition, our house payment has recently tripled. Our payment went from $220/month to $690/month.

We never dreamed it would be an issue to pay off the home loan some fifteen years ago when the credit was drawn; we were simply planning on renovating the home.  All those plans ended with Jennifer’s diagnosis. Instead of renovations, medical expenses took precedence.

However, the tripled monthly repayment amount has made it impossible to continue staying here unless we can find a way to pay off our home.

We’ve looked into selling the house, but several real estate professionals have told us only investors are likely to purchase the home, and they would likely gut it to renovate it. So, any money we might get from its sale would be much less than the amount we need to pay off the mortgage and find another place to live.

How You Can Help

Several friends have suggested I tell our story here, and seek help from a wider community of friends.

Any money donated would go to paying off the house, which stands currently at approximately $50,000. If by chance we raise more than this amount, we could make some needed repairs and pay off some medical bills.

If you have made it this far, thank you for listening to our story. Should you decide to give, we will be forever grateful and can only trust that your kindness will someday be repaid in ways we might never anticipate. Thank you.